Report: Gainsborough Trinity 1-1 Warrington Town

Warrington Town extended their unbeaten run to 19 games with a valuable point away at play-off rivals Gainsborough Trinity.

Josh Amis’ header on the stroke of half-time had given the Yellows the lead, but in the end they were relieved to depart with a point as the Holy Blues pushed late on.

An unfortunate Bohan Dixon own goal had levelled things on the hour mark, and Tony Thompson had to make a smart save to deny Isaac Rice.

For all their late territory though, Gainsborough weren’t able to break down the Yellows again, despite a succession of set pieces, as Evan Gumbs and Tom Hannigan stood firm at the back.

VOTE: March Goal of the Month

The Yellows entered the game three points ahead of their opponents with a game in hand and buoyed by a superb 4-0 win away at Morpeth Town in midweek.

Both sides had early looks at goal in a fast tempo start, with Dylan Cogill heading over from a corner and Connor Woods seeing a shot blocked in the goalmouth after excellent work by Amis along the byline.

A mazy Woods run nearly opened up the Gainsborough defence on eight minutes, with Amis eventually hounded out, before Amis was booked for leaving a foot in on the goalkeeper as he chased down a through ball.

That incident then led to a number of fouls and free kicks which prevented a flowing rhythm to the rest of the first half.

But the Yellows broke the deadlock on the stroke of half. Luke Duffy’s deflected shot forced a corner and from it, the Yellows kept the ball alive and Jay Harris’ cute delivery from the right was headed home by Amis for his third goal in as many games.

It was nearly cancelled out within seconds of the restart when experienced striker Clayton Donaldson pounced on a slip at the back and raced through on goal, only for his touch to get away from him and enable Tony Thompson to snuff out the chance.

At the other end, Duffy cut in and forced a smart stop out of Matt Yates as the Yellows pressed for a second.

But a cheap free kick led to a corner on the hour, and from it Curtis Durose’s delivery bounced off the standing leg of an unlucky Dixon to level the score.

From then on, it was Gainsborough that dictated the tempo as the Yellows struggled to make the ball stick going forward, despite the best efforts of Amis.

They were, however, largely restricted to set pieces aside from four minutes from time, when left-back Isaac Rice drove forward and launched a well-hit drive that was beaten away by Thompson.

AWAY TRAVEL: South Shields

The spoils were shared to consolidate Warrington’s play-off position, though there will be some regret, given the news from elsewhere that league leaders South Shields had lost.

The Yellows are now third, 11 points off top spot with five games to play, but more importantly, four points clear of sixth placed Hyde with a game in hand.

Gainsborough Trinity: Yates, Hornshaw (Keto), Rice, Conway, Cann, Cogill, Munakandafa (Preston), Durose, Donaldson (Sellars-Fleming), Waldock, Lewis. Unused subs: West, Wright.

Warrington Town: Thompson, Walker, Duggan, Hannigan, Gumbs, Harris, Woods (Buckley-Ricketts), McDonald (Mols), Amis (Buckley), Dixon, Duffy. Unused subs: White, Warren.